


Tea

by Thebloomaster



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Coughing, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sneezing, h/c, some caretaking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27672607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thebloomaster/pseuds/Thebloomaster
Summary: Zhu Li is sick. Varrick would never admit it but he's concerned. (Probably takes place somewhere in the time skip xD )
Relationships: Varrick/Zhu Li Moon
Comments: 8
Kudos: 33





	Tea

**Author's Note:**

> idk what compelled me to write this but here we are

“Zhu Li, do the thing.” Varrick ordered, not taking his attention away from his current task. He’s not doing anything too groundbreaking—not yet, anyway. This was all experimental, and with any luck it wouldn’t blow up in his face.  _ Literally. _ There’s a hesitation and a squeaky sound before Varrick hears Zhu Li fixing the wiring of the contraption. He raised an eyebrow; Zhu Li wasn’t one to miss a single beat. Maybe he’d just imagined it.

Did he think he could successfully use swamp water as a renewable energy source? No, not really. Maybe. But doubt was no reason not to try. He had other ideas after all—a whole list of them. And should any come to full fruition, he’d be rich beyond belief. 

He looks up as he’s ready to run tests on the turbine, and as he opens his mouth to boisterously order his assistant to  _ do the thing _ , something stops him. She’s doing another thing. His breath catches in his throat as he realizes what that noise from before was. 

“ _ Mpt...nG’xt... _ ” she’s ducking her head into her wrist. In all the years she’s been his assistant, Varrick couldn’t recall hearing her sneeze once. He shakes off the odd emotion that’s building inside him. He pretends he doesn’t notice.

“Zhu Li, hand me the thing.” He says. There isn’t even a thing that he needs. A few seconds of pass as she sneezes again. Admittedly, he can only tell because he’s looking right at her—maybe that’s why he can’t remember a time when she’s sneezed. Because she does it so silently. It must hurt. Why does it make him feel a sinking in his chest? She presses her wrist to the underside of her nose and muffles a sniffle. She adjusts her glasses which have migrated to the tip of her reddening nose. Hesitantly, she reaches for a screwdriver and hands it to him. 

He’s about to shout “AHA!” or perhaps make a noise of disappointment when he realizes that there are a few screws that are loose only a foot in front of his face.  _ How did he not notice?  _

“Bless you, by the way.” He says as he begins twisting a screw back into place. 

“...Thank you, sir.” Her voice cracks at the end of her reply. He hadn’t realized throughout the few hours they’d been working, but his assistant was looking wan. Was she shaking? Or perhaps it was a trick of the light. Sometimes the lights in this room could flicker.

He continues working, biting the inside of his cheek. Zhu Li is supposed to be virtually invincible. She’s strong—much stronger than she looks—sharp, and generally stoic. It’s rare for him to see her in a compromised position. Could she really be ill right now? He shakes his head and moves to test the turbine to his right. There’s another muffled noise from his assistant across the room, but he pretends like he didn’t notice. If she needed assistance of her own then she should get her own Zhu Li. 

As if there’s anyone else like her on the planet.

It doesn’t spin as fast as it needs to, and Varrick shuts it down for now. He could redesign the prototype, but that would take all day. But if he’s able to increase the velocity of the current, that might do it. Zhu Li is making a note of the experiment. And then it happens again—she sneezes, but somehow is still writing with the hand she’s not using to cover her mouth with. Her perfect bangs sway and a few locks are out of place. He’s not even hiding the fact that he’s staring. 

This is the most human he’s ever seen her—granted, she’s still performing all of her tasks at a high performance standard, but for Zhu Li he can tell that something’s inhibiting her. 

“ _ Eh _ Xxt!” She sniffles afterwards, withdrawing a handkerchief. She presses it against her nose with her free hand as she continues writing. Varrick feels like he’s watching something illegal—like a mover about incredibly personal and intimate acts.  _ Well, there’s an idea!— _ But anyway she’s only sneezing! He shakes his head; what was he on about now? He’s sneezed plenty of times in front of her, and it’s not like he’s ever thought anything of the action before. It’s just that it’s Zhu Li. 

So why does he feel…a voice inside him scolding him, nagging him. She muffles a dry, yet harsh sounding cough before pocketing the handkerchief. He flinches. It isn’t in annoyance or disgust, but he almost opens his mouth to scold her for distracting him. But he knows her coughing isn’t her fault. It’s especially not her fault that  _ he’s  _ distracted.

His head is pounding. He’s never felt this way before. What’s the word for it? He’s almost sweating as he tries to think of it.  _ Concern?  _ Really? He’s tired of this weird internal conflict, this second guessing. It’s just so unlike him.

“Zhu Li…” He starts. She’s standing there waiting for him to continue. He clears his throat. “How about some tea?”

“Yes sir.” She walks towards the exit, which of course is behind him. The way she’s walking is...different. It’s not as if she’s completely staggering, but her movements are less poised than usual. The way she’s moving is almost cautious.

He grabs her wrist, albeit not aggressively. She yanks it back, but he can feel that she’s hot with fever, and he falls to his knees from the opposing force. “What are you doing, sir?” 

Her voice is too hoarse and it’s hard to take the indignation seriously. This war machine of a woman is standing in front of him, clearly shivering, glaring at him with puffy eyes. He can see the goosebumps on her arms, the pallor in her face. Even the shadows under her eyes. He’d make a fine detective.  _ Ignoring the fact that it’d taken him this long to notice.  _ Maybe he could star in a mover about a detective instead. She breaks off eye contact to cough. She isn’t quite doubled over, but her shoulders hunch forward from the motion. It sounds dry but nagging. Then she fixes her posture and the stony look in her eyes returns.

“How about some tea...for you?” He amends. He almost specifies that she’ll have to make it for herself—but really, how hard would it be for him to boil some water? Zhu Li needs her own Zhu Li, but she’d have to settle for a Varrick. She looks dazed, confused, the poor assistant. Her nose is twitching like she’s a rabaroo. 

He’s voluntarily taking a break, and there’s a nagging feeling in his mind.  _ Why? It isn’t necessary. She was functioning fine. Her health isn’t his responsibility.  _

He was a great boss, he settled on. It had nothing to do with the fact that he was attracted to Zhu Li. He was just being his chivalrous, charming self. Zhu Li is in the throes of trying not to sneeze—for whatever reason, Varrick isn’t sure. It doesn’t really make any sense to stop an involuntary action. But she’s rubbing at her raw-looking nose anyway.

“Y’know, Zhu Li. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you sneeze before today.” He comments, pacing around her. She waits, maybe for him to continue, but for once that’s all Varrick has to say about it. He pauses to give her a sidelong look.

“...I’m not a  _ hhh... _ machine, sir.” She says.

“Well, I never said—” he’s cut off by Zhu Li sneezing away from him.

“ _ NgXT’uhh!  _ Yes you have.” She sniffles and turns to leave, possibly to go make some tea. And in doing so she stifles another sneeze. “ _ nGT...huhh.” _

“Bless…” Well now it’s just awkward. “Zhu Li,” he says, rather than trying to pull her back. She halts, and he removes his outer layer and wraps it around his assistant’s shoulders. She’s swimming in it. And it’s moments like this where he remembers that despite her resilience, tenacity, and just general  _ strength  _ that she’s small in stature. She could easily best him in a fight—not that he’d like to advertise that. And seeing her in his clothing makes him feel something that he doesn’t want to right now.

Her eyes widen at the surprisingly kind gesture. “Thank you...sir.”

“Can’t have you getting sick, Zhu Li. Good help is hard to come by!” He exclaims. He considers wrapping an arm around her shoulder, but settles for raising them both dramatically and begins walking to the direction of the stove. “I’ll even make the tea for you just this once.” 

“Sir, you’ll burn yourself.”

Varrick’s jaw drops. “I will not!  _ Sure,  _ nobody makes it as well as you do, but I’m perfectly capable of boiling leaf juice.” He pulls out a chair for his assistant to sit at and goes to the kettle. As he fills the kettle, she coughs more and it’s somehow not annoying him still. He stands there watching the kettle grow hot, ignoring the phrase that a watched pot never boils. 

“You look and sound terrible.” Varrick comments. She does not respond. The kettle makes its signature sound and the back of his hand makes contact with the scalding metal. He lets out a cry. 

Zhu Li is at his side and grasps his hand. She guides him to the sink to run it under cool water. The kettle continues its screech. 

“Ow ow owwww!” Varrick whines. His hand is kissed red by the heat, and it’s sore. Then he doesn’t feel Zhu Li’s grip. Instead she’s gripping the counter with a pained expression of her own. He doesn’t notice any pain from his burn, and the noise from the kettle fades. “Zhu Li? What’s wrong?” Her glasses threaten to fall as she looks at the floor. Varrick turns off the water and wraps an arm around her back. He’d both seen people faint and fainted himself enough times to know what the warning signs looked like. And if Zhu Li hit her head on the way down, she could get amnesia! She could forget all about their projects, and he couldn’t have that!

“It’s nothing.” She finally responds, whatever dizzy spell may have overcome her having passed. She straightens herself up and returns to a nearly perfect posture. 

“Go sit down, Zhu Li.” He says quietly, not meeting her eyes. She obliges and he tends to the kettle. He makes sure there’s enough honey in both cups of tea. They drink in silence. Zhu Li really does make tea better than he does, and he’s disappointed by his efforts. Regardless, she’s drinking it, so it must not be that bad. 

He notices that she’s sniffling more frequently now, pressing her handkerchief to her nose more and more. And she finally blows it surprisingly delicately. He can’t think of anything other than the obviously ill woman in front of him. He wonders how long she’s been keeping it together. What he would’ve done if she’d actually fainted. He’s not even worrying that he’ll catch it, which is bizarre for him. In fact, for the first time, he’s speechless.

She sneezes again. It’s harsher this time, clearly harder to contain, “ _ heh’NGT _ ih!  _ hddt’xXt!”  _

“You’ll hurt yourself like that.” Varrick says as she dabs at her nose again. She doesn’t reply. They sit in silence save for Zhu Li’s sniffling.

He sighs. “I’m ready to call it a day.”

“But, sir…” She says, clearing her throat, “Not on my account, I hope.”

Varrick shakes his head. He puts on his most convincing tone. “No… _ I’m  _ tired and I burnt my inventing hand.” He kicks his feet onto the table. “So I’m gonna go to bed to recover. You should do the same, Zhu Li.” Slowly, he rises from his chair. Zhu Li does the same and begins removing Varrick’s jacket.

“Hang onto it…” He says, “Until that fever of yours breaks.”

“Thank you, sir.” Her face flushed, Zhu Li turns to go to her room. 


End file.
